Resident warns narrow East Matlock Bend Road unsafe for proposed subdivision entrance

Blake Moore, a resident, told the Loudon County Commission at its Sept. 15 workshop that an entrance onto East Matlock Bend Road for a proposed subdivision would be dangerous for school buses and large trucks because of a nearby blind switchback.

“During the past few weeks, I’ve seen buses go outside of their lane on the River Road side of East Of Easton Pike Lock and near this entrance to the new subdivision,” Moore said. “They were not only having to go outside their lane, they were doing so on a blind switchback that is dangerous for cars, let alone a school bus or a large truck.”

Moore said he was not contacted by District 1 commissioners about the proposal and cited previous remarks at an April 9, 2024 Laue County Regional Planning Commission meeting in which Commissioner Randolph noted that if a parcel had two entrances the city could seek annexation. Moore said the annexation discussion did not justify allowing an entrance on the narrow Matlock Bend Road.

Commissioner Randolph responded at the workshop that he had not called every citizen but had invited people to contact him and that the county has addressed road standards since the development was approved. “We've got… the new road standards and… we're trying,” Randolph said, noting that some standards—such as a 20-foot minimum road width—apply to newer work but that this subdivision had prior approvals.

Moore asked the commission to weigh practical risks, not just housing counts or annexation possibilities. He referenced an estimated developer traffic split of roughly 65/35 and said that if traffic were concentrated on Matlock Bend Road, buses and trucks would face increased danger.

No formal action or vote was recorded at the workshop on this item. Commissioners and staff noted that the development had prior planning approvals and that some road-standard changes apply only to projects approved after the standards were adopted. Moore’s remarks were made during the general public-comment portion of the workshop and relate to an agenda discussion item introduced by Commissioner Randolph about citizen concerns on older developments.

The commission did not set a next step or schedule a specific follow-up at the workshop; commission members and staff discussed the existing road standards and prior planning approvals as context for the public comment.

The matter will remain subject to any required planning or zoning reviews and to future formal agenda items if commissioners place it for action.